Coccinella
by DrakoTheNightmare
Summary: Ruby's always had a bit of a crush on Blake, and now that they're together team RWBY's in for an emotional rollercoaster. Well, not much lemon, but some good romance. Look out for my questions for the readers, because I'm giving you a lot of say in this one. Anywho, I'm back to writing, and as always I hope you enjoy!
1. Clouds are made from Concrete

Chapter One - Clouds are Made from Concrete

 _I don't have a laptop to work from, so getting chapters out is gonna be a pain in the ass, but this is gonna be a Blake x Ruby fan fic. Not much lemon this time around, even though making team RWBY fuck team JNPR on the daily is fun, as well as giving all the girls massive dicks and hornier than Blake in heat, this'll be a more serious story. And again, I'm always willing to take suggestions for scenes._

 _After that, this will not be completely canon. It takes place after the festival, and things went completely fine, as this will be focusing more on the romance. Other than that, I had fun writing this chapter, and as always I hope you enjoy!_

Ruby was surprisingly warm. This was all I thought as I cuddled with the smaller girl. Weiss was out with her sister, and Yang decided to go punch some Ursa after she failed a test in Bartholomew's class and was scolded and lectured for it.

It was a colder day and there was a bit of a power outage, so for now it was just me and Ruby.

Ruby smelled kinda sweet. Like it was a physical manifestation of her purity and innocence. I stroked the younger girl's hair softly. There was still a little light from outside, and I could see Ruby's face, though only a little in the setting sun's fading light. She was asleep, and from what I could tell from her mumbles, dreaming about cookies. Ruby was lying close to me, with her arms around my neck, and her face next to mine. _Dust, she's just so adorable..._

There was a thunderstorm going on almost all day, and if there's one thing that I was afraid of, it was thunderstorms (Yeah, haha, I'm a cat).

Ruby was such a sweet girl. She found me hiding in the bathroom covered in a blanket. She almost immediately figured it out and solaced me. She brought me to her bed and let me lay there with her to wait out the storm.

We'd been dating for a while, and things seemed to be working between us nicely, even if we had to keep it a secret. I always thought the smaller girl was so sweet to everyone, even if a little naive. Plus, she was a great leader

I looked at the clock, its light glowing a dim 7:41 in the dark corner. _I guess I might as well sleep._

My lonely thought sounded nice enough. I was exhausted, and it was almost completely dark.

{«¥»}

 _Ugh…_ my body felt heavy. I opened my eyes, but my vision was just a blur. I was lying down, stark naked. All my senses were drowned out except for the weight I felt in my body. Gradually, my senses started coming back to me.

 _Whispering..?_ I could hear a few voices, all speaking in a hushed tone.

"What are those things on her head..?"

"She's a faunus."

"Ugh, get away from her, she's probably feral."

 _Why can't I speak?!_ My voice was quiet and hoarse. I still couldn't get up, but I turned my head toward the voices. "Ruby? Weiss? Yang?" I could barely hear myself. I wasn't even sure I said anything. _Why are they doing this..?_ I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, and I started sobbing. "Why..?"

 _blake..._

 _Blake, hey?_

 _Blake, wake up!_

I didn't remember when I fell asleep, but I woke up to a wet face, a worried Ruby, and distant voices in the hallway.

"Hey, Blake... what's wrong?" Ruby asked, jaded.

I whimpered a little bit, "It's... nothing..."

Ruby pouted, "Fine..."

I sighed, "I love you."

Ruby smiled at the phrase, "I love you, too." She gave me a tight hug, and kissed me, which I gladly returned.

Ruby pulled away in a deep yawn. "Well, go back to sleep. We're on break today."

The red haired girl nodded drowsily and flopped back into her pillow.

"-and then there's team CRDL. They're a bunch of good-for-nothing jerks. They bully everyone."

I heard Weiss' voice in the hallway, "Shit," I forgot that it had to stay secret. If anyone had come back the night before, we'd have been caught.

I panicked slightly and rushed out of Ruby's bed, grabbed my clothes and ran into the bathroom, rustling my own bed's sheets for good measure. As soon as I locked the door I heard Weiss and Winter's voice enter the room.

"I don't wanna wake her up, so let's be quiet."

"Of course."

I sighed a little. I didn't want anyone to find out because I didn't know how they'd react. Though, I was thinking we should tell the team. They deserved to know.

I started getting ready for the day, setting my clothes aside and starting the water on the shower. I stood there in the water for a minute, just to relax, before washing. Before long I was putting up my bow and tying the ribbons around my hands.

By then my slight panic had died down, and I faced Weiss and Winter without a problem. Weiss was laying on her bed while Winter stood (in a very soldier-esque way) by her.

"Oh, hey Blake." Weiss turned at the sound of the bathroom door opening. "I don't think you've properly met my sister, have you?"

I scoffed at her playfully, "One Schnee was bad enough."

"Hey!" Weiss stood up, "How rude!"

Winter just giggled a little bit. "Yes, I see this kitten's got some bite."

I hissed at her for the sake of sarcasm.

Winter smiled at me. "So, you're the faunus of the famous team RWBY."

"Famous?" I questioned.

"Well, I mean you girls got quite the reputation in Vale." She pointed at Ruby sleeping in her bunk. "Her getting in two years early is already quite the feat, but then she's also the leader of a Schnee, a wanted faunus, and her older sister."

Now that she mentioned it it was exceptional, "When you put it like that… wait, how do you know about my past?!"

"Word gets around Blake. Though, it's only seen as a rumor by most."

I sighed, "I see." _Hmm… should I tell them? Or should I ask Ruby if she wants to?_ I thought the latter sounded better. I didn't want to do something like that without asking her first. "I guess you're not too bad."

I sat down on my bed and pulled my journal from under my pillow. Half of the thing was just drawings, while the other half was notes, recordings of my dreams, tracking my heat cycle, books I should read, and things I wanted or needed. I had a bunch of them, though they were all hidden.

I opened it to the the next blank page and started sketching Ruby in her bunk. She was lying there curled around her pillow, drooling and half covered.

Weiss was showing Winter something on her scroll, when she looked up at me. "What are you doing, Blake?"

"Mm? Oh, just drawing. Why?"

"Well, you're always doing something in those books, but I never knew what you used them for." She stood up and sat on the edge of my bed. "Can I see?"

I looked at her precariously. _She won't know if I show her… will she?_ I held the book a little closer to my chest. "I've barely started it, so there's not much to it just yet…"

Weiss narrowed her eyes at me. "You look like you're hiding something. I already know about your Ninjas of Love book hidden under your mattress." Winter burst into a giggle fit. I gave Weiss a look and stormed out the room.

"Hey Bla-" I slammed the door shut, cutting her off.

{«¥»}

I woke to the sound of a door being banged shut. I squealed at the loud noise.

"What's with her?" I heard Weiss's voice below me, as she sat down on her bed with a soft _thump_. "Weiss? What happened? Where's Blake?"

"She got mad and stormed off."

"Why?"

"How should I know?"

I sighed, "I'mm a go find her…"

I put on my clothes as quickly as I could, and rushed out the room. _She'd probably be in the library right? That's where she usually is…_ It sounded right enough…

I ran through the hallways until I got there, and started looking around the different areas for her. "Blake? Blake? You here?"

"Yeah… I'm here." I heard her voice coming from one of the quiet areas and I made my way to her.

"Hey, what happened?"

She looked away from me, and stayed silent for a moment.

"She just said something that pissed me off…"

"Weiss?" She nodded.

"Oh, Blake, I'm sure she didn't say it in a mean way…"

She sighed, "Yeah, I guess…"

I looked at her face a bit longer before giving her a hug. "I love you…" I whispered into her ear. She turned around with a faint smile, and put her lips on my forehead.

"I love you, too."

Everytime she said that, I always felt a little giddy. Like a small rush inside. "C'mon we can go kick some ass to cool you off, okay?"

{«¥»}

"How do you even swing that thing around like it's nothing?" Ruby and I were walking back from the training halls. "A girl as small as you swinging a fifty caliber sniper-scythe around like it's just a stick still surprises me." It was nearly noon by then, and the glass hallways were extremely bright.

"Well, for one, it uses dust to make it lighter. I also use my aura when I need more strength in my strikes. And after that, I use my semblance to swing it much faster than I could without it." She stopped walking for a second. "Do you have your scroll with you?"

I nodded, "Yeah, why?"

She fiddled with her hands for a moment, "I don't have mine and I wanna check up on Yang… I'm worried about her…"

"I can see why." I pulled my scroll from under my bra, "Here."

"Thanks, Blake." Her face lit up at the gesture. I walked over to the middle of the wide hallway. _I like how they made the whole hall out of glass. Roof, walls. You can even see below onto the main grounds._ "Uh, Blake?" I looked over to the confused girl.

"Yeah, Ruby?"

"What's she under?" _Oh… I forgot…_ I could tell my face went slightly red.

"She's under… Hothead…" Ruby gave me a look, giggled a little bit, and went back to the scroll.

{«¥»}

 _Sigh… I hope Yang is okay…_ the scroll rang seven to times before I got an answer. "Yang? Yang? You there?"

I heard her cough a couple of times before she answered, "Ruby? Oh, dust, get here now, I'm in trouble!" I heard her yell at something and then the call quit. _Oh, no..._

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "C'mon, I'll go with you."

"But we don't know where she is!"

"I'm pretty sure she's smart enough to send coordinates, now let's go!"

We ran back to the lockers to grab our weapons, "Oh, why does she have to go and do stupid things like this..?"

{«¥»}

"Aaargh! I'm done with you!" My semblance was going haywire. I had such a rush I could barely keep from blacking out. There were blazes surrounding me and a whole pack of beowolves with seven ursa and two pack leaders beyond the fire. _Fucking Hell, I know I'm supposed to be a huntress, but I can barely take all of them at once… but it's those alphas that are causing the most trouble…_

They were all waiting. Taking their time like I was a youngling that strayed too far from her pack. _Well… I guess you can look at it that way._ I laughed quietly to myself, before I caught one of the alphas making a move. Then I heard Ruby's voice.

And that was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.

{«¥»}

"Yang! Yaaaang!" I was running as fast as I could without leaving Blake behind.

"Ruby! I'm gonna find a high place, you keep running!" I nodded. Yang did send a map, but it was hard to follow, considering these wilds didn't have any clear paths. _I hope she's all right…_ I kept going in the general direction where the map said she was. _I feel like I'm getting closer… am I..?_

The forest was dark, even at this time, but I could see some light up ahead. _A clearing? That seems right._ I bolted forward at full speed, hoping that's where Yang was.

As I rushed through the foliage at top speed, the blinding light hit me. I squealed a little bit, before I was knocked out.

 _Ugh… why does my head hurt so much?_ I opened my eyes to see Blake and Yang arguing…

"The Hell, Yang?! You could've killed her!"

"I said I'm sorry!" Yang looked really mad, hurt but mad. And, Blake… she was crying…

"That's not good enough!"

"Look, if I was trying to kill her, she'd be dead. I blacked out Blake! I can't control that…"

I spoke up, "Hey, Blake..? I'm fine, I promise." I sprung myself up on my elbow, "Help me up, 'kay?"

Blake nodded, "Thank dust you're alright…" She pulled me up into a hug.

"You're sure you're fine..?" I nodded. I was still a little dizzy, but from what I can tell nothing was broken. _I guess my aura stopped the bleeding._ I looked over to Yang. She was staring off into the distance, with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, Ruby…" She still didn't face us.

I looked at Blake then back to Yang, "C'mon guys, we should head back to the academy." Yang just nodded, and Blake started walking in response.

I tried walking forward, but I ended up falling flat on my face, and scraping my cheek and forehead. "Oh, Ruby… c'mon I'll carry you…" Blake rushed to my side and kneeled down, rolling me over gently and putting her arms underneath my head and knees

"Blake, you don't need to baby me…"

"I don't care. If you can't walk, then you can't walk. There's no need to force yourself…"

 _I said I was fine…_

I let out a long sigh. "Fine…"

{«¥»}

We hurried out of the forest pretty quickly. We didn't want to run into any more trouble, after all. It took us a good thirty minutes to get out, considering I had to carry Ruby. Yang tried going off on her own but I stopped her, saying I didn't want her having to get into another fight, and that if we ran into anything, we'd probably need her help fending it off.

"I guess you're right." She still wasn't back in her usual cheery mood.

We started moving again in silence.

"Why were you out so long Yang?" She averted her gaze with my question.

She hesitated a bit before speaking, "I came back last night, but I was still mad so when I woke up this morning I went back out… I killed so many beowolves that I started getting surrounded by them, and there were so many that I couldn't keep up with their attacks. I took so many hits my semblance went crazy, and when you guys showed up I blacked out."

 _Wait she said she came back last night… does that mean she saw me and Ruby?_ I shake the thought from my mind. _I'm planning on telling them anyway, so what's the difference._ I look at Ruby, cradled in my arms. She was asleep. She probably got bored and passed out.

"Well, you should've been more careful. Even if you had to blow off steam, it doesn't give you the right to go off trying to kill yourself."

Yang just nodded. For the rest of the trip, we were silent and by the time we got to our dorm, I was completely calmed down, and Yang looked a little better.

I nodded to Yang to open the door, and we walked inside. I set Ruby down on my bed and sat next to her. Weiss and her sister were gone, so it was just Ruby, her sister, and me.

"I'mma take a shower. I stink." I just nodded in response.

After Ruby and I were alone, I cupped her face and brushed the hair out of her face and gave her a deep kiss. I felt her wake up and return it. We kept going until I had to pull back for air. "Best thing to wake up to, ever." Ruby whispered before pulling me back down. We went on like that for what seemed like eternity, but I eventually stopped because my lungs were burning.

Ruby pouted, "I don't wanna stop…"

I just smiled at her, "Neither do I, but my chest hurts, Ruby." I looked at her and put my hand in her hair and stroked it softly. "But, you're feeling better, now, right?"

She nodded, "The dizziness went away, and my aura seemed to heal everything else, so I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear." I looked around for a moment, "Ruby, do you think we should tell the team?"

"Well, I certainly don't like keeping secrets from them…"

"Then I think we should. Maybe later on today, everyone will be here." Ruby mumbled in agreement.

"Now lay down with me for now, okay?"

I smiled at her, "Gladly."

 _So what do you guys think? Again, it was a fun chapter to write, but I'll see you guys next time!_


	2. Crystal Hearts

Chapter Two - Crystal Hearts

 _Hey, guys, welcome back! I had to make up a lot of stuff up to make writing these chapters a little easier, but hopefully it doesn't bother anyone too much. I also need your guys' voice on a couple of things, and you'll see those after reading the chapter. Anywho, I like where things are going, and as always, I hope you enjoy!_

Again, we were on break. Yang finally decided to stay with her dad, and Weiss was busy showing her sister around Vale, so, for the most part, Ruby and I had the dorm to ourselves.

The day we found Yang in the forest, when she clocked Ruby in the face, Yang called her dad to tell that she'd be spending the break with him, and then she left.

For a while I cuddled with Ruby, "I love you…" I was on top of the smaller girl, kissing her relentlessly.

Ruby put her arms around my neck and pulled me down into a deep, passionate kiss. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Our tongues danced, over and over again, "I love you, too, Blake…" she pulled me down, biting on my ear and fondling my cat ears, making me purr. I closed my eyes and let it happen, _this girl knows what she's doing…_ it felt good, and I didn't want it to stop…

Eventually, we had to, though. We couldn't very well stay like that forever, no matter how much we wanted to.

And after that, we laid there for a moment before getting up. "I think we should go on a date," Ruby suggested while we cuddled.

"Well, we're gonna tell the team soon enough, and after that I think everyone else will find out… I guess it doesn't matter if we're seen holding hands in public."

Ruby squealed in joy, "Yay! What should we do, where should we go?"

"Well, for starters, we can go shopping for a bit. A little girly, but I think it can be fun. After that maybe we can get something to eat. Something fancy, maybe?"

Ruby smiled widely, "Amazing."

Ruby and I were both still in our regular clothes, and felt dressing up for the occasion wasn't worth the time.

Though we did clean ourselves up a bit.

I put up my bow again, and walked out with Ruby, making sure the door was locked. We decided to take our time, and made our way slowly to the docks from the academy. We hailed a smaller airship, one meant for city travel service and scanned our scrolls for the ride.

"I guess we're lucky we're students and they cover this sorta stuff for us, huh?" Ruby noted while we were in the back of the airship holding hands, "They even give us a small allowance."

"Well, we are training to be huntresses, and hunters are a crucial part of the kingdoms, keeping them safe and such. I guess it's because of that. Plus, hunters are like celebrities in the kingdoms. They protect the world from Grimm on a daily basis, and risk their lives doing so."

"Yeah, when you put it like that it makes sense." We sat there in silence for a moment, and I started rubbing her palm with my thumb.

"You know… it still feels like a dream…" I gave Ruby a questioning look, "We're huntresses in training… in four years we'll be out there slaying Grimm as our job…" She looked around for a moment. "I remember my mom always warned me about the dangers of being a huntress… she didn't want me becoming one… she always told me I was her little baby, and she wanted me stay safe…" I saw Ruby started crying. I put my arm around her neck and pulled her into my embrace.

"Oh, Ruby…" Hearing her talk about her mom… I could understand in a certain way. I never knew my real parents, and I was practically raised by the White Fang, but I was always told my mother couldn't raise me herself so she gave me to them…

I softly stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. "It's alright… it's alright…" I put my lips on her forehead, "Let's just enjoy ourselves today, okay?" I didn't really know how to console her, and I felt awful for it…

She smiled a little bit and wiped the tears off her face, "Sorry, Blake…" She quickly pulled away, putting her hands around my neck in a reassuring manner, "It's just… well, I didn't deal with it very well… it still hurts sometimes…"

"Well, I'm here Ruby." With that we went back to silently holding hands until our ride was over. Pretty soon we were stopped and in one of the smaller shopping districts of Vale. Ruby choose this place because when she was still attending Signal, her uncle brought her after her training sessions with him.

"He didn't really spoil me, but he liked rewarding me for my dedication to it."

The first thing that caught my eye was the small bookstore in between the anime merch shop Ruby was eyeing, and an icecream shop that wasn't getting too much business. Obviously I felt it right to do what Ruby wanted to first, so I gave a small nudge to the merch shop. "C'mon, I know you want to." She gave me a slightly embarrassed smile and hurried on over, our locked hands guiding me with her. We toured the extensive shop for the better part of an hour, Ruby grabbing a couple of figurines, posters, and a few light novels. Ruby said they were surprisingly high quality for being so cheap and was also one of the reasons she loved this place. Before long we checked out her items and were moving on to the bookstore.

 _Hmm… Ninjas of Love will always be my favorite… but I need something new… I hope they have something here…_

I examined the rows of books. They all seemed to be nominally organized, by author's name. Though, I looked at the last row and found that that one was the "adult fiction" isle. I was pretty sure they didn't track our spending, so for the most part I thought I'd be fine so I browsed the aisle a bit, distracting Ruby by saying they had free cookies at the counter. I finally settled on one, a fantasy based story that took place in a fictional country called Japan. It sounded interesting enough. Plus, having another "special" book was always a good thing in my opinion.

I didn't want to spend too much so I only bought one other book, again a fantasy. I brought them to the counter, the clerk giving me a questioning look for my taste in fiction. I saw Ruby was still looking for the cookies at the other register (in a separate place next to the one I was at), and answered the woman quietly, "I'm seventeen, I'm old enough to buy it." I scanned my scroll, bringing my ID up, proving my age and paying for them at the same time. The clerk just nodded, not saying anything and put them in a small bag.

I walked up to Ruby, slightly flustered because she couldn't find the cookies. I wasn't lying, I saw they had some on a tray when we came in.

"Over there, Ruby," I put my hand on her shoulder, getting her attention, and pointed to a small concessions table with a coffee machine, and cookies, with two tables for reading besides it.

Ruby saw and hurried over to the table, picking up three cookies and coming back to me. _What is with this girl and her cookies..?_ I grinned at the thought. _Oh, well, it doesn't matter._ When Ruby came back to me I took her empty hand, and led her out of the shop. I looked around a little bit. I wanted to get something to eat, not something too fancy, but something decent. There were a lot of places to eat. The ice cream shop I mentioned earlier, an oriental place a little down the path, a professional (I had to suppress tree laugh at this one) burger restraunt, and a small buffet across from us. I looked to Ruby, and relayed the choices I saw.

"Well… there's a small bakery shop I like going to, though we can't see it from here. If we walk for a bit we'll get to it."

"A bakery?"

"Well, they have stuff like sandwiches."

"Mmm, you might wanna try something different. Maybe the buffet?" The younger girl just shrugged.

"I guess we can. It'll be nice, I think." I saw the gears in her head turning as she smiled, tipping me off that she liked the idea the more she thought about it. _I guess she's just open minded, but likes familiarity._

"Good, now c'mon." We walked across the slow river of shoppers, and headed into the buffet. Again, like most of these places, it wasn't too busy, but considering the multitude of empty shops, this place could be looked at as bustling. It was slightly larger though. It did feel a little weird that they'd put a buffet in a shopping district, but it sounded kinda smart. There are a lot more people around willing to toss Lien at things they could probably live without. The first impression I got from the place was variety. They had rows and rows of different foods, some looking familiar, foreign, and some that seemed more like someone would make it outside the kingdoms. Though those last ones weren't very accurate.

We went up to the counter and paid for the service. It wasn't too expensive, but it was still a little pricey. I could tell Ruby was happy with the choice, though. She looked at the rows of food and she was trying not to drool. I nudged her with my elbow, "Better than school food?"

"Way better." With that Ruby hurried on to fill up her plate, eat, and fill it back up again. Contrary to my oh, so classy girlfriend, I tried taking my time. _God, this girl's got an appetite._ I laughed at the simple thought.

I thought this'd be a good chance to try food I hadn't before, so I filled my plate with the more foreign looking food. Ruby and I decided on an empty table with a large window next to it. I sat down, and slowly worked my way through my plate, trying to not to choke myself. Ruby on the other hand was already scarfing down her third plate by the time I was finished with my first (again, so classy). Other than my fair lady getting the both of us looks, it was a nice date. Not something to make a love sonnet out of, but more than decent.

After Ruby and I ate our fill, we decided to go touring different places around Vale. The first place we decided on was the aquarium. I hailed another city travel airship, and told the driver where we were headed. "Well, it'll take a while. With all the flying laws, there's gonna be a rush soon. You okay with that?"

I looked to Ruby, "Yeah, it's fine. I'll just take a nap." I mumbled in agreement.

I patted my thighs, offering my "love pillows", as Yang called them, which she gladly accepted.

"You're warm, y'know that?" I smiled at Ruby's comment.

"Go to sleep, okay? I'll wake you up when we get there." I heard the smaller girl yawn a response, followed by relaxed breathing.

I looked out the window for most of the trip, looking down every so often to relish my girlfriend. _Girlfriend, huh?_ I never thought of myself as the romantic type, and I never expected Ruby, my team's leader, to ask me out. I never expected I'd like her so much either. Though… when I thought about it. Maybe I harbored similar feelings for the whole team… _Is that… wrong?_ Weiss. Well, she might be the definition of racist, but she can move past that. And after that, she's very trusting of those she's close to, and even adores them. Yang is a bundle of fun, put simply. She's always so positive, and even though her puns are absolutely horrid, we still get a laugh out of them. And, Ruby… she tries her hardest to be the best team leader she can. She messes around in class, but studies so hard and late at night to make up for it. And she's an amazing fighter. There's almost a sense grace to it. _But, I do love her. I'm not lying when I say it. So… it's not wrong of me to have feelings for others, as long as I don't act on them, right?_ It didn't feel like me to be so unsure…

"We're here." The driver's words startled me. _I must've been lost in my thoughts._ I push it all out of my mind, still trying to keep the "let's enjoy ourselves" mentality, and shook Ruby lightly, "Hey, baby, wake up."

She opened her eyes slowly and rubbed them, "Baby, huh?" She pulled herself up and sat back on her seat. "That's a new one."

"Do you not like it..?" She leaned in for a soft kiss, "I don't like it… I love it." She smiled at her somewhat corny line, and opened her door, signaling me to do the same.

I walk out, giving a small wave to the driver as a small thanks, and walk around to Ruby, and took her hand in mine. "C'mon, we still got a few hours left until nightfall." I remember the clock saying 1:34, which wasn't bad. We'd started at noon so we still had a lot of time left. Ruby and went up to the doors and and waited in the line.

Ruby pulled out her scroll which was ringing. "Weiss? Hmm." I heard the small tone, "Hey, Weiss."

{«¥»}

"Ruby have you seen my sister?"

"Uhm… no? I'm sorry Weiss, did something happen?"

 _Well… we did get into a fight…_ my thought comes into mind and I hesitate,

"Weiss… what's wrong?"

I let out a small sigh, "We got into an argument while we were out and she stormed off without a second word. I'm not worried about her, I just don't want her going back home mad at me…"

"Where do you think she'd be?"

I paused, "I'm not sure…"

"Well, Blake what do you think?" I heard another person in the background start speaking

"I'm sure it's not that bad of a fight. We should wait at the school for, and hopefully by tomorrow she'll be back."

Blake… was actually right… She wouldn't be that mad, right? I sighed in defeat, "Okay…"

I hung up the call and started heading back to the school. I obviously could've gotten a ride to the school, but I decided to walk. Sure it was gonna take me a while, but maybe the time could help get my mind off things.

Nothing exciting happened on my walk back to the school. It took almost three hours for me to get there though.

I walked through the almost empty corridors back to the dorm. The hallways were vacant excepting students coming to and from studying and training. I opened the door to the dorm, and was taken aback by the sight that awaited me. Blake and Ruby were sitting in a bunk kissing, almost manically. I immediately shut the door and rushed off.

I… I loved Blake… but she loved someone else… I found an empty classroom and hid under a desk, letting the tears that had been welling up out…

The thing my sister and I got in a fight over was Blake… she said she liked Blake, and I told I did too and we fought over it…

I never thought Blake'd be with anyone, much less Ruby…

I started crying even harder. I didn't want this. _Nothing's going my way…_ I snickered softly through my sobs. _Even if it normally always does…_ The laughter didn't last long though. For a long time I just sat there under the desk sobbing, and eventually I fell asleep.

 _Well, then. Things are getting a little heavier plot wise. Anywho, I've kept these last two chapters at a similar word count, and I want your guys' opinion. Should I make them longer, shorter, or keep them the same. (And for those who want details, chapter one was 2,900 and this one is 2,600)._

 _And, maybe just maybe, I'll make this a light harem with my main ships still in main effect, that'll only happen if you guys want it though. And considering I started out a smut writer, I wanna try it too._

 _Anywho, constructive criticism, opinions, and requests are always welcome. I'll see you guys next time!_


	3. A Flag to Celebrate the Rain

Coccinella Chapter Three - A Flag to Celebrate the Rain

 _Ey, guys, welcome back! There's another question at the end of this one, so watch out for it. This chapter took me quite a while to write, so I'm thinking updates on Coccinella are gonna be slow, especially since this was written on a good week. Anywho, let's see how things unravel, and as always I hope you enjoy!_

 _I had cried myself to sleep in an empty classroom… why am I in my bunk?_ This was my only thought as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Even without looking around she recognized the now familiar comfort of her dorm bed.

"Hey, I see you're awake…" I heard Blake's voice coming from across the room. Instantly, the feelings from last night came rushing back to me, drowning me in a tidal wave of emotions. I felt tears welling up before I could even react to Blake showing up. I tried talking but there was a lump in my throat, so I just turned to face the wall. There was a bit of an awkward silence before I could speak.

"What do you want..?" My voice sounded hoarse, and cracked in the middle of my sentence. I could barely hear myself.

I felt the bed dip near my back as Blake sat next to me. "I wanna know what's wrong. Y'know for always forcing everyone else to be honest with their feelings, you tend to hide yours a lot." I felt her hand on my shoulder, "I may be silent a lot, but I do care about my team." She rubbed my shoulder in an effort to comfort me. I didn't want to cry… I absolutely didn't want to, but fuck it. My body was wracked with sobs and I just didn't know what to do. I felt the tears stream down my face and my breathing became labored. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and die. _Is this what heartbreak feels like..?_ The thought felt lonesome. I knew the answer to the damned question.

I felt Blake sit me up and pull me into a strong embrace, "Hey, hey… what's wrong..?"

I felt so weak. Weak and fucking pathetic. I loved Blake… I really did…

She had a childhood that was horrible, and after the argument I realized she must've had it much rougher than me… it made me empathize with her… and eventually… I fell in love with her…

And Winter… She said she started liking her. "A stray kitten that's been kicked too much…"

I remember her saying that after I shared some of what Blake told us. I felt so drowned in my thoughts that I barely realized I was soaking Blake's shirt in my tears. I felt her hand softly stroking my hair, and she was trying desperately to console me. I took some deep breaths, and forced myself to calm down. I still felt like my heart was literally in pieces, but it was enough to face Blake without becoming a sniveling wretch. _Should I tell her..?_ I wanted to. But at the same time I didn't. I looked up, seeing how close her face was. _Maybe… I just want this… at least once…_ I closed my eyes. And as fast as I could pulled her in for a kiss. I knew I'd probably regret it, but I wanted it. I pulled back looking at Blake's shocked and still expression. I slapped her, and ran as fast as I could.

{«¥»}

 _She… she kissed me…_ I rubbed my cheek, the action stinging me and forcing my hand back. _I… I…_ I didn't know what the Hell I was supposed to do. I loved Ruby, but this… I sighed long and heavily… "Well… I'm guessing she likes me… and that's why she ran last night." I got used to talking to myself from all the days I spent alone outside the walls, but this time it felt weird. I didn't really know how to explain it.

I pulled out my scroll and started a message

 _Hey, Ruby? You think you can come to the dorm? I figured out what was wrong with Weiss._

I decided against going into detail, and sent it. I got up, walked to my bunk and settled in it. I remember Ruby went into the training halls that morning, like she usually did. I didn't think it'd trouble her much. My cheek still stung, and I could tell it would leave a mark for a while. I rubbed the spot where she struck me softly. My thoughts were just blank for a while. I didn't even think of going after Weiss. My better judgment told me she felt strongly for me, but it felt like a stupid thing to think. She had almost hated me after I revealed I was a faunus, but she did obviously care for me. I still remember how they had searched the whole city for me. I remember the warm feeling I got after that. I hid it, but I liked the feeling. In the White Fang, even if I was a high rank, they treated everyone so coldly. If you died, you were forgotten, if you abandoned the cause, you were either killed on the spot or left for dead in the wilds.

My thoughts were interrupted by the quiet sound of the door opening. "Hey, Blake." I heard Ruby's voice fill the silent room. She made her way to me and sat on the bed, pulling her legs up, with her knees high, and resting her chin on them. "So, what happened?"

"Well, I stayed in the dorm for a while seeing if she'd wake up. When I saw she did, I started talking, and she broke down crying. I… I honestly didn't know what to do, so I just tried comforting her. I sat on her bed and gave her a hug." I hesitated before continuing. _Ruby'd understand, right? She won't get jealous… at least I hope not…_ "She… She looked up, kissed me, slapped, me, and ran out of the room." I looked at Ruby who was listening intently. She was quiet for a moment.

"So, I'm guessing she likes you?"

"A lot if she had a breakdown over it…" Silence filled the air once again. I didn't know how I felt about the situation. I liked Weiss. Maybe even a little more than I should. I had admitted to myself I had feelings for her, but I didn't want to let them grow into anything more than what they already were, because I loved Ruby…

I didn't want to blame myself, but I felt I was at least partially at fault.

"Well, I hope you know you're not to blame here."

"Yeah, I know." Ruby nodded at my response.

"We should go look for Weiss… I don't want to just leave her out there."

I sighed in agreement, "Yeah, I feel the same."

Ruby pulled my chin lightly to face her and gave me a light kiss. She patted my thigh, muttering a quiet "C'mon", signaling me that we were off.

{«¥»}

 _Deep breaths… deep breaths…_ I was sobbing unimaginably hard. I tried desperately to calm myself down, but it was hard to focus on anything but the poisoned dagger in my heart, the venom spreading causing my center to hurt, and my hands to shake uncontrollably. _Dust, all this over a girl! What would father think?!_ I kept kicking myself over and over again, just making myself feel worse. _Fuck fuck fuck,_ "Fuck! Why?!" I startled myself as my thoughts became words, the sheer loudness of the sound scaring the life out of me in the silent shower.

I had ran into the school showers when I stormed off. I wasn't crying then, so I stripped, turned on the water, and stood under it before my emotions started getting to me again. But once they did, I started beating the wall uselessly as my body shook with sobs, until I eventually slid down the wall and curled up in defeat.

I looked around me. My crying had ceased, and the pain had dulled into a slow ache. The room was quiet, except the sound of the water. I felt so alone. I buried my face into my palms. "What am I gonna do..?"

"Weiss..? Weiiiiiiss?"

{«¥»}

"Weiss..? Weiiiiiiss?" Ruby was calling fruitlessly for our heartbroken friend. We had looked in the classrooms for her, but we found nothing. We then went down the hallways, and now we were in front of the school showers.

"R-Ruby?" I heard Weiss's weak voice, interupted by a sob. Ruby looked overwhelmingly relieved, and ran into the shower without a second thought. I felt it was best for me to stay behind, but I wanted to see how the poor girl was holding up, so I followed. Weiss walked out, completely naked, and Ruby pulled her into a long embrace.

Weiss was still crying softly but she looked better, "I'm guessing you guys know now..?"

"Yes, but it doesn't matter now. I wanna know how you're holding up…"

Weiss brushed her tears away, and gave a weak laugh, "I'm not exactly at my best right now…"

"Yeah, I noticed…"

Weiss turned to me, a hurt look on her face, "Does it still hurt?" I rubbed my cheek.

"No… not anymore." She nodded.

"I'm sorry, Blake… I shouldn't have reacted like that… it just," She let out another sob, "It hurts…" She almost started crying again, but Ruby pulled her closer, stroking her hair, and shushing her. I gave Weiss and empathetic look. I could tell Ruby wanted to do something too, but her feelings for me halted the easy way out.

Weiss looked down, suddenly realizing she was completely naked. "I'm sorry Ruby… I got your clothes all wet…" Her face went pink, and she pulled away from Ruby trying to reassure us she felt better, "I'm gonna go grab my clothes… I'll be out in a second…" She hurried off into the locker room with the sentence. _Well… at least she isn't crying anymore._ The thought wasn't very reassuring, but it was something. I started thinking about how I would've felt if I was in her situation. In all honesty, I'd be mad. Extremely angry. I wouldn't really become a sniveling wretch like Weiss did, I'd want to kill something to get all the excess emotion out of me. I'd probably go out into the forest and hunt grimm for a couple of days to get over it.

I don't know, though. I've never dealt with it, so I can't say for certain.

A long heavy sigh broke my train of thought. Weiss had come back, fully clothed, but her hair was down and wet. She shied her gaze away from mine.

"C'mon, let's head back to the dorm." I thought about taking Ruby's hand, but it felt like I'd be rubbing it in Weiss's face, so I didn't. I trailed behind Ruby, who had her arm around Weiss, carrying her along. It looked like she was helping a woman about to faint. My heart pricked with a bit of jealousy, but I quickly disregarded it.

I saw Weiss's body start to shudder a few times, but Ruby pulled her close and calmed her down before she broke into a fit of sobs again. _For not being a people person, she can really work with them when it matters…_

We made our way to the dorm, and we all took seats on the bunks. I was sitting on the edge of mine, while Ruby sat with Weiss with her arms around the heiress. _I never thought she'd go for me…_ the mental image of me and Weiss holding hands and kissing didn't feel odd though. I kind of liked it actually.

"It hurts, Ruby… so much…" Weiss's voice was quiet.

"We're here, okay?" Weiss nodded into Ruby's chest.

"You know Blake's the one who carried you in here and put you into bed."

Weiss looked up, "Really..?"

"Yeah… it's not like she doesn't care, because she does. She spent over an hour looking for you."

It was true. I didn't know what to do, but I wanted to help in any way that I could, so I looked everywhere for her until I finally found her passed out in one of the classrooms.

I sat there staring at the two. Weiss started looking almost exhausted, her body looking more limp, her eyes starting to droop, and eventually, passing out in Ruby's arms. I stood up, "I'll put her to bed, okay, Ruby?"

She let Weiss softly down on the sheets, "Okay." She got off the bed carefully, as to not wake her up. I picked up Weiss in one arm, pulling the sheets from under her and laid her down. I pulled her blouse and skirt off of her, and replaced them with her silk robe, finally pulling the sheets over her, and laying her head comfortably on the pillow. I looked back, a surprised Ruby facing me.

"What?" I questioned.

"You did that really well." I gave her a look, "Well, you redressed her, made her bed, and laid her down without waking her up." I smiled.

"I guess I'll just take the compliment."

Ruby jumped off my bunk and pulled me down into a kiss, and gave me pouty eyes, "I love you."

I smiled at the irresistibly cute act and gave her another kiss, "I love you, too"

{«¥»}

I sighed. _I guess getting back to the academy is the only thing I can do…_ I was basically avoiding my problems. After I hit Ruby and Blake and I got into the fight, I thought it'd be best to leave things. Even if I left out of anger, there was still something a little bit more to me leaving. The break ended tomorrow, and I had to be back by then so I decided I'd go back, even if I was still a little salty.

I got back onto school grounds at about late noon. I made my way slowly through the hallways, anticipating another fight with Blake. I didn't want to fight her, and I certainly never meant to hurt my sister. I never like running from my problems, but this was something started with my fists, not ended with them.

And for the most part that's how I solved my problems.

I used my scroll to unlock the door to the dorm, and walked in quietly. I looked around the room. _Weiss is asleep at this time of day..?_ I looked the heiress' bunk and there she was, sound asleep. It looked like she was even in her pajamas. I walked up to her. Her face was streaked with dried tears. "What happened while I was gone..?" I didn't think of the Snow Princess as the one to cry over anything. She'd get a little huffy, but never cry. I held her face lightly in one hand, "And here I was thinking you didn't have a heart…" I sincerely wondered what happened, and thought about it for a moment. Before I could get anywhere, though, my other teammates walked through the door. I quickly pulled my hand away from Weiss, and shifted awkwardly where I stood, and faced the two.

"Hey, Yang." Ruby greeted me quietly, while Blake gave me a simple, silent wave.

"Uh… h-hey, Ruby… Blake…"

Ruby walked over, and squeezed me softly. "You still think Blake's mad, huh?" I nodded.

Blake gave a short sigh, "It's alright Yang. I'm not mad. Not anymore at least." Blake fondled her ribbon in an awkward fit.

"That… well, that's a relief. I felt pretty bad bad after I knocked lil' Rube's lights out. I was panicking before she woke up."

My sweet little sister looked up at me, quiet enthusiasm in her voice, "You're gonna have to try harder than that!" She then nuzzled into my arm.

Blake smiled at the action, "Dust, you're so adorable." I looked at my faunus friend, shooting her a questioning look. "Oh, that's right. You don't know yet do you?" She moved a little closer, Ruby taking her hand, and pulling down the taller girl into a passionate kiss.

"Oh." My voice sounded flat, besides my extreme surprise, "So, you're dating now?"

Ruby spoke up, "Well… we have been, but we didn't know how everyone would take it so we kept it a secret… I mean, it is Vale, but they don't exactly hold gay pride festivals, y'know?"

I understood what they meant. I mean, hey, faunus still don't have proper rights to protection against discrimination. "Yeah, I do. Remnant is so focused on survival and just protecting the kingdoms, I guess we're not very open-minded." Blake nodded, having experienced the repercussions of it full force for most of her life. I jumped to my bunk, Ruby dragging Blake to hers. We talked quietly for a moment, Ruby and Blake occasionally putting on an extravagant show of PDA. "God, you two, get a room."

"We do have one," Blake retorted.

"Well, another one!" I turned to Ruby, " You guys are worse than the main couple in your girlfriend's special book!" Blake's face went red, putting Ruby's cape to shame, and turned away, which Ruby detested and pulled her back for another kiss. We all made sure to keep quiet, for Weiss's sake of course. We kept our banter up for a good while before being interrupted by soft knocks on the door. "It's open!"

A very bored Winter soon walked through the door. "Hey, Winter." Ruby greeted her. "What's up?"

She sighed, "I wanted to check up on Weiss… she hasn't been answering my calls."

"Oh… I remember she called me, saying you two got in a fight. She's sleeping, but she's not in the best of moods…"

"Is she still upset?"

Blake answered that question, "Upset, but not about what you think." Winter shot her a look, to which Blake just kissed Ruby in response.

Winter almost immediately understood, "She took it pretty hard I'm guessing…"

"She cried herself to sleep in a classroom, and ran off and had another breakdown in the showers." Blake said this solemnly, to which Winter just nodded slowly.

"You mind if I stay here with you girls?" I just patted the spot next to me as an invitation, which she gladly accepted.

It didn't take long for us to get back to our usual joking attitude, and from there we talked the day away.

 _Well, then… so I looked it up, and Weiss x Yang is pretty popular… more popular than Blake x Ruby… pisses me off a little, but I wanna know what you guys think. What should I do with Winter and Weiss, ship wise? If nothing comes up, I'm probably just gonna do Weiss x Winter, but you guys have a voice, so suggestions are always nice. Anywho, addio amici, and I'll see you guys next time!_


	4. Right through the Stone

Coccinella Chapter Four - Right through the Stone

 _Well, then. I just checked my ff account, and Coccinella has 13 follows and favorites, and 732 views. That's pretty fucking big for the first three chapters. At least in my head. Anywho, the drama's dying down… for now, and as always I hope you enjoy!_

"So." Ruby'd gone to bed, and Winter decided to sleep in the same bunk as Weiss. It was all a cutesy little scene, the older sister crawling into bed with her sibling, kissing her goodnight and such. Yang and I were gonna stay up for a bit. "How'd it start?" We were both sitting on her bunk, with the help of a small reading lamp I kept under my mattress (right next to Ninjas of Love for… reasons).

"Well…" I hesitated for a moment. I still felt kind of embarrassed about the whole ordeal. "It happened at the dance."

"You asked her out at the dance? I didn't take you for the romantic type."

"Uh…" I could feel the heat rushing into my cheeks, "Ruby asked…"

"Oh, really now?" I nodded, bashful.

I still remember that night clearly. Late into the dance I was sitting alone. People had started calling it a night, and there she was. Ruby came up to me and held her hand out, a slight grin and greeting me with such a cheesy line, _May I have this dance, la mia bella donna?_

To which I met with a smile and another cheesy line, _Ovviamente, signora Ruby._ I laughed at how stupid it was, _I see you're taking advantage of the langauge classes._ I took her hand in mine and we danced, and she was a surprisingly great lead, given I was taller than her. If I wanted to be romantic I'd say we danced the night away, but I prefer honesty. We danced for little more than an three hours, and it was enjoyable while it lasted but we both were really tired after the nonstop movement. People were still at the dance, probably wanting to get the most out of the event, but Ruby and I spent the remainder of our time on the small balcony outside the ballroom.

I turned to Yang, "Late into the dance I was sitting by myself, before Ruby came up to me and asked if she could have a dance with me. I said 'of course', and we danced for a good three hours straight, until we were exhausted. And for the rest of the night we sat out on the balcony."

"I remember you two dancing together." Yang mumbled to herself.

She put her hand on mine and told me I looked beautiful, making me blush slightly. _Y'know. I've always kind of liked you Blake…_

"She told me she liked me, and after some silence she kissed me."

Yang smiled, "So romantic! Did she recite a sonnet declaring her love for her fair, beautful maiden?"

I don't think she was being sarcastic about the romantic thing, rather making fun of it. I pulled a pillow and held it to my chest, resting my chin on it. "Shut up." I shoved my partner lightly. "Y'know, Ruby's my first."

"First?"

"Yeah, she's the first person I've ever dated." Yang shot me a look of surprise. "Well, ever since the White Fang turned to militacy, we worked outside the walls. There wasn't any time for romance." I went silent for a moment, "And I don't think I could've loved those heartless bastards." I could taste the hatred dripping in my voice. They all killed mercilessly, and I hated it.

"Hey, hey, I think it's time we go to bed, okay?" I could tell Yang was saying it for my sake. She didn't want to bring up any memories from then. She knew I hated almost everything about it. I smiled as a small 'thank you' for making me stop. I climbed into Ruby's bed, thankful I could finally cuddle with Ruby whenever I wanted. I was careful not wake her up, but I slid my arms around her neck and nuzzled into her nape. At that I slowly drifted off.

{«¥»}

 _Ugh… where am I..?_ I l rubbed my eyes to clear up my vision, and looked down to see I was a child standing in a lake. My head ached, and I was dizzy, making the world look like it was slowly turning. I tried standing up but I just fell back into the water. I looked down again, the reflection showing I didn't have my bow. "Where is it..? Maybe it fell off?" I started crawling around in the shallow water looking for it. I felt very tired, and it took all my will not to fall asleep. I could hear voices coming from afar and I looked behind me towards the sound. The lake was surrounded by thick forest. Almost just a blur of greens, brown, and black. _Where's my bow..? I need it… I don't want them to see me…_ I could feel panic start to rise in my chest as I looked frantically for my bow. I could hear the voices becoming gradually louder behind me. That was when I saw an older boy wading through the river towards me. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dark blue jeans. I covered my faunus ears, and closed my eyes.

"What's wrong little girl?" His sickly sweet voice told me he was younger, roughly fifteen. "C'mon I don't mean you any harm…"

"...my bow…" My voice was quiet. He looked around me and pat my head.

"You mean this ribbon, I found?" He pulled a long black ribbon from his pocket. I nodded, and grabbed at the ribbon. "Here." He tied the ribbon around my ears, "That better?"

The last thing I remembered was looking down into the water before waking up. _That was Adam… before everything…_ I stretched out my arms, realizing I still had them around Ruby, and rubbed my eyes a bit. "I guess that conversation last night made me dream about him…"

I turned my head to Ruby, who was sleeping soundly, using my arm as a pillow. The clock read 6:47, and I could hear someone in the shower. "Hey, Ruby…" I nudged her lightly, "Wake up."

I heard her groan, "Hmm..? Blake?"

I brushed her hair out of her face, and gave her a light kiss, "Who else?"

She smiled a bit. "I'm up, I'm up." She pushed herself to a sitting position and hopped off the bunk, "I guess Yang's in the shower. Weiss is still asleep."

"I don't know how, but okay. You want the first shower?"

"It doesn't matter. None of us take that long. Besides Weiss."

I smiled at that, "Okay, you go ahead and take it."

"Mhm." Ruby and I got our school uniforms ready and chatted idly waiting for Yang to finish up.

"Hey, guys. I'm done so whoever's got dibs, take it." I turned to Yang walking out of the washroom.

"Hey, Yang." Ruby turned toward her sister, "How'd you sleep?"

"Preeetty well. I had a dream about working in a castle. It was a little weird because people were just tossing Lien at me constantly."

Ruby laughed a bit, "You always have weird dreams." Ruby turned to me, "I'll be out in a few, okay?" I nodded, and she walked into the washroom to get ready for the day.

"It still surprises me." I gave Yang a questioning look. "You two are total lesbians!"

"Weeell… I was never much into guys. I can't speak for Ruby, though."

"Mhm. I'm bi, so I can kinda see where you're coming from. But, Ruby," She paused, "She just follows her heart."

I looked at my partner. I understood what she meant by that. "I know. Whatever she wants, she chases after it. Not religiously, but with a passion."

"Like being a huntress. She always wanted to become one, so she dedicated almost all her time to it. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but look at her now." I nodded. I definitely agreed with that.

"You guys never told me what was up with Weiss, y'know."

"Oh. Well… she…" I still felt kind of uncomfortable with the situation so i hesitated. "She… she likes me, and she didn't take it too well when she found out about my and Ruby's relationship…"

Yang sighed. "I didn't take her for the type to cry over that kind of stuff."

"Neither did I…"

"It's not your fault, okay? There's not much you could've done about it."

"I know I shouldn't blame myself, but I still feel like I'm at fault somehow."

Yang paused for a moment, "Well, Blake, we're all a little at fault. Just our presence is enough to influence the people around us, but we can't really control that. Besides, I'm sure you still make her happy just being here." She jumped onto Ruby's bunk with me and patted my thigh, "It's alright." She gave me her usual, wide, reassuring smile.

"Thanks Yang."

She nodded, "Any day, Blake. You know we all have to look out for each other here."

I nodded in agreement, and chatted with Yang until Ruby got out.

{«¥»}

"Should I wake her up?" I nodded towards Weiss, "Blake's about to get out of the shower." Me and Yang were just getting a few more things ready like books and such, "I don't want her being late."

"It doesn't look like she'll be waking up on her own so I think we should." I nodded. I walked over to the older girl's bunk and shook her shoulder a bit, "Hey, Weiss. Wake up. It's almost time for school." I spoke softly, but sternly.

She rolled over in her bed to face me, "Ruby..?"

"Yeah, c'mon, I don't want you late to class, 'kay?" I heard the door open and looked to see Blake walking out of the shower and turned back to Weiss. "There you go, Blake's out."

Weiss sat up and pushed herself off the bed, rubbing her eyes, and with a yawn, she mumbled an agreement.

Blake looked at me, "She doesn't look too into things, but at least she's not breaking into tears."

I nodded, "Yeah, that's definitely an improvement."

The clock read 8:19 and classes started at nine. We still had a while before classes started, so everyone was finding a way to kill time. Blake was reading, and Yang decided to go talk to team JNPR, and I was watching anime on my scroll. _I guess things are back to normal…_ Weiss was taking forever getting ready, Blake was by herself, and Yang was pulling puns out of her ass like it was second nature (which it probably was).

Things were pretty calm compared to the last two days. Blake wasn't mad at Yang anymore, and Weiss was somewhat better.

"Hey, guys!" Pyrrha walked into the room in her usual chipper tone.

"Hey, Pyrrha." I greeted her while Blake just waved.

"So… a little birdy told me you guys were dating!"

Blake looked up, "I told you it'd get out quickly. It was Yang wasn't it?"

"No, of course it wasn't." I could see the denial in her face. Yang and Nora came up behind her.

"It was Yang." Nora gave her away.

Blake put her book down, "YAAAAAANG?!"

"Hi!" Yang waved from behind Pyrrha.

Blake stood up and walked to the doorway, "Y'know you could've waited a while before giving us away like that!"

Yang started laughing almost manically and then feigned an extremely hurt look, "Oh dust, what a cat-astrophy, Blake is mad!" Yang wasn't helping, "and I'm hiss-terical!"

I smiled, "This is purr-fect."

Nora decided to join in as well, "You gotta be kitten me! This cat puns are cat-trocious!"

I was surprised when I heard Weiss' voice. I didn't even realize she was out of the shower. "Dust damnit Yang, you're spreading your pawful pun disease to everyone else." Everyone was laughing, and Blake had calmed down. She was smiling, too, so that was nice to see.

"You guys are horrible human beings, y'know that?"

I jumped down from my bunk, and pulled Blake down for a light kiss and pulled back, "But you know you still love me."

Nora and Yang whistled, "Go get 'em ladykiller."

"Shut up, Yang." Weiss looked at the group, "Y'know we're gonna be late. It's 8:49"

Blake spoke up, "Okay ladies, show's over. Let's get to class."

And with that, our teams headed off, teasing Ren and Jaune about how they didn't get to see the kiss.

{«¥»}

 _I'm glad we don't have a seating chart._ What that meant to me was that Ruby and I could sit next to eachother, and hold hands underneath the desk. I don't why it just felt… nice. Satisfying. Even though they were making fun of us earlier, team JNPR seemed perfectly fine with it. Ren and Jaune didn't really care, and Nora and Pyrrha kind of… cheered us on, I guess you could say. Weiss was still a little emotional over it. She didn't take part in the banter on the way to class, but Yang kept calling Ruby a stud. Everything went over quite well, actually. Though, there were definitely people who'd think we were stupid for it. People like team CRDL. Cardin had passed us in the hallway, and whispered to me calling me a dyke. I didn't even know what it meant, so I assumed it was an insult, but I called him out on it when he did, "Y'know, I'm not afraid to break your fucking face, Cardin. Fight me any day." With that I used the ribbon on my arm to trip him, and left him laying on the floor, flat on his face, everyone laughing at him. I don't know why, but it pissed me off that much. He didn't even show up to his first class from what I heard.

In Oobleck's class we were doing a history lesson on the aftermath of the Great War. How the kingdoms were trying desperately to rebuild, repopulate, and eventually get things into a better state. Things weren't as well as they are now, which should be obvious, but were better without the fear of oppression. He went on about the effort to rebuild lost portions of cities, the food shortages, the power outages, but how eventually, after 4 years things were back into proper and decent states, ushering in an age of peace and advancement.

As the bell rang, he gave an announcement about the monthly test and sent us on our way.

Our team and Jaune's eventually met up on the way to lunch. Our usual banter ensued, but Ruby and I walked, hand in hand.

We sat down at our usual table, and decided for sparring matches we'd go up against each other, and especially decided on whoever got Jaune to see how much he's improved instead of trying to win. I didn't know who I wanted to fight. I originally thought about fighting Ren or Nora, but I didn't really know who to choose.

I was sort of lost in my thoughts until Ruby nudged my arm, "Cardin's been staring at you this whole time from across the caf." I followed her gaze to the bully. He'd stopped some of his bullshit, but apparently not all of it.

"You think he wants to fight me?"

Yang turned towards our conversation, "Oh, yeah. He definitely wants to fight. You embarrassed him publicly, there's no way he _wouldn't_ want to."

"Maybe you should spar with him. That'd definitely drive the final nail into the coffin of his bullying." Pyrrha cut in.

"Publicly embarrassed by the same girl, twice in the same day?" Nora turned to us, "Yeah, I think he'd just stop coming to Beacon at that."

"I guess it's settled then." The rest of our group looked satisfied with my reply. _Kicking his ass will be a lot of fun._ And with that, I enjoyed the rest of my meal anticipating the next bell.


End file.
